


Havoc in Heaven

by WolfintheFlowers



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Minor Character Death, Multi, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-25
Updated: 2017-05-10
Packaged: 2018-10-22 01:00:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 20,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10686534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfintheFlowers/pseuds/WolfintheFlowers
Summary: With his tremendous failure at Spring's Kiss Tournament, Yuuri decided to cut ties with his company and return home. Not a day after he returned, a family friend asked of him to bring the Lovers' Lament sword to the Diamond.Against the feeling of dread in his gut, he accepts, and takes the first ship out of Hasetsu he could catch.





	1. Silver Horizon

**Author's Note:**

> No, Breath of the Wild didn't have me remember every Legend of Zelda game I've played before it and mix that kind of lore with a story, you got it all wrong.  
> Kidding, this story is going to be chock full of references. Take a drink every time you spot one, lads. {Disclaimer: do not drink alcohol with this challenge, you will die}  
> Side note, all edits are done by me, and (in case copywrite laws change soon) I own nothing but my original characters.

**April 10 [µ] 1023**

Yuuri stepped off the boat with the rest of the passengers, and quickly got used to being on land that didn't move below his feet.

The captain patted him on the back with an amused smile on her lips when he stood straight, and he gave a nervous one back on instinct before he looked in front of him, hoping to see the main road in the small coastal town, but only saw houses, grass, and dirt.

His sister wasn't kidding when she said the town had ten buildings at max, for most of the locals islanders lived in Zahra, and the only ones that liked living on the coast where those who loved the sea, or those who were the middle man when it came between imports and exports to the trading capital.

A whine of a horse from the stable he passed after he - finally - found the road tempted him to buy one, for the trek ahead of him would be long, but Yuuri knew that he wouldn't be able to afford one unless he carried a bag full of gold coins; and that was if the sellers were nice.

So, he tightened the straps of his bag tighter and stared down the road as he walked quickly without straying his eyes, having to get there as quick as possible, in case the tournament had ended early.

It was when he was out of the small town that he noticed the sword, consciously. The blade was an odd weight on his hip, and bounced with his movements oddly. Yuuri wouldn't be surprised if he put it on wrong, despite his sister showing him how to put it on, but he didn't want to bother with it, so he placed a hand on the butt of the dark grey hilt to see if that would help.

And it did, kinda.

The weight was still weird.

As he walked down the dirt road, the sun began to rise, turning the sky pink and orange, until it settled for a beautiful blue. It was only when the sun beamed down on him that he noticed how unnaturally  _cold_ it was for the season, even if it was nighttime prior.

Perplexed - though, really, he had nothing else to think about except his failure, so weather it was - he tried to think of the cause as he made for Firelight Woods, which was getting nearer.

The sky was immediately blocked as the tall trees swallowed him, and he eyed the spiderwebs that caught his eyes warily, picking up his pace. His throat told him that it was dry, and begged for water the longer he walked. With a hand free, he took out his waterskin as a black and orange spider climbed down to eat the poor small bird that got stuck in it's merciless web, and drank.

Firelight Woods wasn't a  _long_ walk, especially at the speed he was going, but it was frightening to many, and especially to Yuuri, who had only walked through the woods once for the same tournament held in the trading city six years ago.

_'Which you lost,'_ a scolding voice spoke in the back of his mind,  _'just as you lost the **last** tournament you entered.'_

Yuuri swallowed, but knew his mind was right.

A dull sound came from ahead of him, and it took a second for him to recognize that it was the chime of a newly born fairy who didn't know how to project and lower their voice yet. Curious, he looked for them, and saw a pink glow weaving through the trees a bit ahead of him. Yuuri didn't need another weak chime to know that the fairy was obviously tired.

"Need a lift?" he asked the fairy, but didn't walk towards the light.

The fairy slowed, then stopped in midair, as if waiting for Yuuri to catch up to them. He stared at the glowing ball of light as he continued to walk forward at a reasonable pace, hands at his side, but ready to draw his  _wakizashi_ if the fairy turned out to be a wil-o-wisp, or a bandit's bottle on a string.

Once he was level with the fairy, however, they left the trees, and joined him on the dirt road; Yuuri breathed easier at the sight.

Until the fairy collapsed right in front of him, and Yuuri barely caught them.

The tiny body he couldn't see was breathing heavily in his palms, body iced cold, and he could feel ribs pushing against his skin. Worried, Yuuri brought his hand holding the fairy to his face, but he couldn't see the body; which was both good and bad. He looked up at the sky he could barely catch a glimpse off in the dense forest, then back down, biting his lower lip, and he pondered.

The forest was too dangerous for him to walk into and searched for the fairy's family, no matter how close to the road he stayed. And yet, if he took them with him to the city, the fairy would be beating down by the sun's rays, which had to be bad for a body made of metal and light that was so weak.

Thinking it disrespectful to just put the fairy in his bag, no matter how gentle he was, Yuuri asked softly, "hey, I'm going to put you under my hood, is that okay?"

The fairy gave a weak ting.

"Umm, could you, maybe, hit my palm once for yes, twice for no?"

The fairy's wings vibrated weakly, then he felt a tiny hand pat his palm once.

"Okay - oh, you probably want water."

The wings buzzed again.

Yuuri gently took off his bag, then placed it on the ground as he got to his knees. Digging out his smallest bowl, he filled it with water and held it to the fairy, who he could feel put their hands on the rim of the bowl once it stopped next to them; then he saw ripples on the water.

For a second, he wondered if the fairy would slide into the water to take a bath - or slide down out of sheer exhaustion - but they moved back after a while, and patted his hand twice. Yuuri dumped the rest of the water on the ground, put the bowl back in his bag, then put the bag back on his shoulders.

With that taken care of, Yuuri stood, pulled back his hood, then raised his hand. The fairy moved once Yuuri had his palm at his head, and he let the fairy crawl to the middle, wincing to himself when they pulled hard on his hair in the process.

Once they settled, Yuuri pulled back his hood to cover the fairy up to their shoulders, then began to walk, straightening his back so the fairy wouldn't slide off.

When other fairies came for a ride - without so much as a thank you, but he knew that fairies usually traveled for weeks without a break, so he didn't call them out on it - it was with relief that he realized that the fairy on his head wasn't sick, for the fairies didn't seem worried about them.

They even gave tired giggles every once in a while, like the carefree beings childhood stories made them out to be.

Still, when he reached the gate of the capital, the sheer number of colorful fairies that left his body and flew off bemused him, though the guards didn't seem fazed.

They probably weren't.

Zahra was still as large as he remembered, and colorful too. While he walked, he noticed that they seemed to worship the Black Goddess more than they had when he lasted visited the city, which he didn't think could be possible; unless, they had a bad Winter, which would explain it all.

Every building he passed seemed to have an idol to the Black Goddess of some sort, from large epitaphs decorated by pointed purple plants that reminded him of aloe vera along the bottom of the podium, to polished black soil resting on top of stone holders. Even the sweet shops had soil pies on their sills.

His stomach growled in hunger as he passed yet another delicious smelling shop without stopping, and he slowed, checked his coin purse, then walked back to the shop.

"Excuse me," Yuuri began to ask one of the bakers, who was rearranging what looked like small pumpkin pies, "how much for a soil cake?"

The man turned, face marked with a decorated black face tattoo that made Yuuri's own face tingle.

"7 copper."

"Thank you," he said to the man, and paused when dark grey eyes looked up at his head before the baker went back to the tiny pies.

Yuuri brought a hand up to feel, and felt that the fairy was still there.

Breathing, thankfully.

"Do you want something?" he asked the fairy, and he heard their wings buzz once, stronger than before. "What are you craving?"

The fairy grabbed a bit of his hair, giving a light tug that told him to turn his head in that direction, which he did.

"The baked apples?" Yuuri asked, and got another sharp buzz.

He frowned as he thought of the what the combined prices would be, then went to the counter.

The bitter chocolate stayed on his tongue after he swallowed his first bite, walking to the castle slow while examining the sights and his breakfast, feeling that the fairy was _thankfully_ keeping the cut apple in Yuuri's bowl, and not his head.

While examining the sights more thoroughly than before, he noticed that the people also seemed to still respect a bull-like creature that he - once again - couldn't place a name for, and managed to see one up close as he passed through the main market place, the smell coming from it rather, unique.

There were also large cats roaming the streets that weren't there before, either with people as clear pets, or by themselves.

Yuuri tried hard not to jump when one passed him quickly, and felt that the fairy had to steady the bowl from his jerked movement, which he apologized for.

While exiting the main market place and neared the castle, Yuuri noticed that the people of Zahra were wearing long skirts, instead of the short ones he saw them wear last time he visited. True, their chests were still bare for all to see, but it was strange to not see cloth that ended at the knees. Many women still wore small colorful beads that covered their necks, and those that didn't wore a colorful necklace that went to their collarbone, the same as the men; the men also had a few who wore colorful beads. 

A cold breeze told him that it wasn't Spring weather, and he almost slapped his head in his stupidity, if it wasn't for the fairy on his head.

Another spotted cat slipped passed him, and he shivered, glad that the gate to the castle was so near. A bowl entered his vision, and he paused, then took it when he saw that it was his. Yuuri felt the fairy sit back down as he took his bag off his shoulder to put it inside, grabbing the letter while he thought about it.

Then he put his bag on his shoulders, fixed his glasses, took a deep breath, then walked with purpose to the gate of the castle, noticing that the knight guarding it had dark blue over their gorgets', while the ones at the front gates of Zahra had none.

The knight on the left kept her eyes behind Yuuri, but the right examined him thoroughly with dark eyes, which paused on the fairy for a full second.

"Business?" the knight asked, a hint of bordom in his voice.

"I've come with the tournament sword," Yuuri spoke as he rehearsed, holding out the letter.

Dark eyes glanced to the sword at his hip, then back up, and to his right shoulder, no doubt staring at Yuuri's own weapon. Then the knight took the letter, and the knight on the left glanced at him with that searching look, before putting her eyes back to the road.

The knight stopped reading the letter a moment later, raised his ax-fan, and hit the wooden slate on the guard tower.

A grumble came from inside, then the slate slid open a few seconds later. An old woman popped out her head, thick white hair flowing out of the open window as she pushed herself to look down at them. "What is it?" the - clearly - witch asked with an annoyed tone. "I'm making Blue, and unless you want our King's face to turn the same color, you would leave me to my devices."

"Check this sword for ill intent," the guard asked more than ordered.

Dark pink eyes squinted at Yuuri, then went back inside the tower with a _hmph._

The fairy on his head gave a continuous buzz as the older woman seemed to throw things around inside, then they gripped his head in what seemed like impatience. Yuuri gave an uncomfortable smile when both knights gave the fairy a narrowed look, to which the fairy stopped moving his wings.

"Now," the witch began as she appeared again, a polished redwood staff in her heads, "hold still."

Yuuri swallowed as the knotted end pointed at him, then a beam of white - no, multicolored - light shot to the sword before he could brace himself.

The weapon didn't so much as budge.

"Nothing," the witch said after a deep breath, a bit of exhaustion in her voice. She put the staff to the side of the window before she leaned out again, "didn't your parents ever tell you to trust in pink fairies?"

"Thanks Mother Jeema," the knights said politely, and the slate slid shut after the woman quickly retreated, but not before the witch grunted in annoyance.

"The Minister should be in the courtyard seeing to the ceremony preparation," the knight told Yuuri, then slammed the butt of his ax-fan on the cobblestone at the knights' feet.

Yuuri's eyes went to the crack that appeared in the gate, and watched as a door twice as tall as him - as well as wide - opened, his ears barely catching the creaks that the gears made. He walked inside as the fairy gave another tight pull of his head, and felt the fairy get up from sitting to their knees.

The courtyard was _large,_ with two hedges on either side of him, cupping colorful budding flowers in the green; though a few seemed to be in full bloom. Birds tittered and sung up above, flying to the sparse trees that he could see planted in the hedges. Butterflies fluttered without a care to the flowers or the top of the hedges, and a large dragonfly buzzed so close to his face Yuuri could feel the breeze on his nose.

He looked back in front of him after he quenched his curiosity, and saw the Minister immediately, close to the doors of the long castle, with their thick robes of white and blue, and a group of knights behind them.

"If that the Bird says is true," the Minister was saying as Yuuri stepped down the single cobblestone step that lead to the lower quarter of the courtyard, "we might have to line this place with tarp."

The knights gave him a look when he approached, and Yuuri stopped before spoke, "excuse me, Minister?"

The Minister hummed, then turned, dark brown eyes moving to the fairy on his head. Said fairy flew off and stopped in front of the Minister's face, tingling and hopping in the air frantically.

"What's it's doing?" one of the knights asked, seemingly talking to no one.

"I'm not sure," the Minister said, then looked to Yuuri as the fairy slumped in what looked like defeat. "Young man, how did you come upon this fae?"

"In the forest," he answered as the fairy slowly began to sink to the smooth stone ground, and Yuuri bent down to catch them gently. "They were tired, like they had been flying for a full month, and I felt ribs when I held them."

The Minister hummed in thought while putting a hand to her lips, and the fairy's wings moved slowly, as of the fairy wanted to fly off, but didn't have the energy. "This could be troubling," the Minister stated after a few seconds of silence. "Bring the fairy to the librarian," she ordered a knight with red cloth, "he would know how to decipher newborn speak."

"There is something else - "

"Newborn speak?"

Yuuri looked to the voice who interrupted his rehearsed words, and saw a young girl of twelve with a braid going over each shoulder walk down the steps of the castle.

"Juanita," the Minister said with a relieved sigh in her voice, "good. We may yet need those decorative cloths you and the others had made on a wimp."

The girl blinked, smiled brightly, then frowned, all in the span of a few seconds.

"What newborn?"

The fairy chimed as if on cue, and the girl turned with a gasp, then looked up at Yuuri, "you befriended a fairy?"

"I-I guess," he answered the girl, who moved her eyes over to his shoulder with a frown.

"Why do you have two swords?"

"Now Princess," the Minister began, but Yuuri - after he thanked the girl mentally - spoke up, "because one of them is for the winner of the tournament."

The girl looked up at him in understanding as the Minister turned to him, "oh good, you've arrived on time. We'll take the sword off your hands, and Juanita, you can see the fae to - "

"I'll take the knight to father," the girl interrupted.

The Minister paused, and blinked her eyes.

"Wouldn't you rather help the fae, Princess?"

"The knight's come a long way," the girl began with claps hands in front of her, "a day long boat ride from the small town Hasetsu to the Diamond, and a near hour walk from our Eastern banks to our city. He should rest here, especially if he wants to participate in the ceremony this afternoon, and the festival after."

The Minister pursed her thin lips, then nodded.

"Our Princess has spoken. Captain, bring the fae to the librarian."

The knight with the dark red cloth and howling harpies pauldrons stepped forward, and the fairy flew up from Yuuri's hand. He watched the pink fairy moved towards the knight, pause, then race back to Yuuri. Cold engulfed his nose for a second, then the fairy went back to the knight, who turned and walked away without a change in their stoic expression.

Yuuri rubbed the tip of his ice cold nose, then looked down at the Princess as she walked up to him, hands still clasped in front of her dress.

"Father is tending to the Western garden," she told him, and gave a bow to the Minister before she motioned for Yuuri to follow behind her.

He did, and wasn't surprised when he heard two knights begin to follow them as well.

The opening in the hedge that was hard to see led to a pool of sorts, which seemed to have a mechanism that would allow water to run down the tiny rivers to the plants in a gentle trickle, which explained why everything was so vibrant.

Without stopping, the Princess turned and went threw a hole in the hedge, and Yuuri followed her into the maze, glancing at the strange flowers he couldn't place as they walked without words. Then they turned left, and a squirrel that quickly made their escape took his attention.

The area they stopped at had a large tree, which was surrounding by light purple flowers shaped like drooping bells. Around those were white and green flowers, daisies, and a row of plants that looked like white broccoli.

The King - obviously, from the crown that had the Snake Deity's cobra in the middle - was near those plants, dressed in clothing that looked more like what the citizens of Zahra wore than what the Minister or his daughter had on, though he wore two skirts instead of one, a golden one that had rounded tips that touched his calves, and the shorter underneath the hold was black. Like what the citizens wore in the Spring he was in Zahra, the King wore no shoes, and his bare arms were covered in dirt from where he was puling up monstrous looking weeds.

"Father."

The King hummed in question, then turned his head, features sharp, and dark eyes bright as they locked onto Yuuri.

"Welcome to Zahra," the King greeted as he stood with smoothness, "I am King Darijo. I apologize that we could not meet in the throne room."

"And that you're covered in dirt," the Princess said before Yuuri could speak.

The King's eyes crinkled for a second with his soft smile, then quickly turned back into a 'King' face.

"What can I help you with, sir Knight?"

Yuuri swallowed, and spoke his practiced words, "I've come with the Ceremony sword, King Darijo, made by Mistress Sakurai of Hasetsu."

"Aah, Meiko. How is the old sword maker doing?"

Caught off guard, all he could say was, "umm, fine."

"It is usually her son who brings the sword to us, is he ill?"

A question he was prepared for.

"He was struck with the Pox a week before, and since I roamed around the Island with the Oakhart Company, I was the most experienced to make the journey to Zahra."

The Princess hummed behind him, "at least you speak clearly. But you need to work on your public speaking voice, you're too stiff."

Yuuri turned with a blink.

"Juanita," the King began, "why not tend to the garden while I talk with the messenger?"

The Princess bowed her head with a "yes father", and walked to the flowers that the King was tending to, bending down examine the ground.

"The sword, if you please, sir Knight."

Yuuri flickered his eyes up to the King before he looked down, bringing his hands to the belt to unbuckle it. Once he did, Yuuri held out the scabbard so the King could slid the blade out; which he did, smoothly.

The King twirled it around, then tossed it with a spin in the air, catching the hilt with ease. Then he held the sword out in front of him, the light shining bright across the sharpened metal.

"Just as I remembered them," the King said with a wistful tone and a gentle smile. Then dark eyes looked back over to him. "I've noticed that you seemed to be tired, sir Knight. Have you had a chance to rest at all since you arrived?"

Yuuri shook his head slowly, "I mean to visit an inn once I've delivered Mistress Sakurai's sword."

"He can rest in a spare room, can't he?" the Princess more asked than stated.

The King hummed, then held up the sword, and Yuuri kept the scabbard still as the older man slid it back in. "Juanita, can you bring him into the palace?"

"Yes father."

The King nodded, then dark eyes looked back to Yuuri.

"I wish to keep the sword with me, if you do not mind."

"Not at all, your Grace."

While he gave the sword to the King, Yuuri noticed that the Princess wiped her hands on the grass, then on her dress as she stood. It brought back memories of when Mari and him would help the Hara family with their crops.

Yuuri looked down as he tried to remember that his older sister wasn't disappointed in him for losing, not at all.

"This way," the girl's voice broke through his mind, and Yuuri flickered his eyes to her before he followed, hearing the knights walk with them as well.

Yuuri kept quiet as they walked out of the hedge maze, and he glanced to see the Minister and other knights were gone, not even in the larger part of the courtyard that led to the gate. Then they were at the three steps that would lead to the long castle, and Yuuri brought his attention back to the front.

The building, much like other ancient building in the trading city - and more so in ancient civilizations in the south of most Islands - had no main door, and idols of ancient people faded to time were engraved on either side of the rectangular archway.

"Mistress," the Princess asked a servant passing by with a tray of delicious looking food when they walked in, "can you have someone bring a water basin for our new guest in the West Wing?"

The frazzled servant bowed, "yes Princess."

With a nod back, the girl began to lead Yuuri to a hall, where his eyes were drawn to the stairs on his right, which led down. Yuuri remembered being told that the Diamond Island could get pretty hot in the Summer - which was why their land to the south was mostly desert - and that they lived underground sometimes to cool off. Most people who lived near such dry areas had a cooling basement, he remembered in his lessons.

Basements like the bellies of the Hounds of the Copper God. If Yuuri never saw those colossal idols and the Tower they surrounded in his lifetime, he would die happy. 

_" - skater, can you_ believe that? How did he have time -  _Princess!"_

Yuuri watched the gossiping servants bow at their waist, something they said striking a fire in his mind.

"Rise," the Princess ordered, then asked, "has a servant with a basin arrived yet?"

"No, Princess."

"Excellent. When one does, direct them to the room where this one will stay. If you will show him which one is free?"

One servant walked forward, "I shall, Princess."

The girl nodded, then turned to Yuuri, "I will send word to how your partner is fairing before the ceremony, if I can. For now, I must prepare."

"May your words be clear," he told her the proper departing words.

She gave back a small smile, "thank you. And may all news be good."

Then she bowed, and went towards the guards, who made room for her to walk between them.

"This way, sir," the servant said, and Yuuri turned to face him, then followed. "The room will be with clean sheets and an empty closet for your convenience," the servant told him as they walked a short distance to a door. "If sir Knight has any questions?"

"None - no, wait, I do."

Dark grey eyes blinked quickly.

"Yes, sir?"

"I - well, you and your friend said something about a skater."

The servant grew a blush, "yes, sir. I apologize for that."

"No, that was fine." Yuuri swallowed, feeling how dry his mouth was. "It's just, I used to be a skater, before my mandatory service."  _'And never went back.'_

"You wish to know who the skater was, sir? Were you not here for the tournament?" Yuuri nodded, not trusting his voice. "The winner of the tournament was a famous skater, though I can't think of his last name at the moment. I apologize."

He took a deep breath.

"Was it, Nikiforov?"

Dark grey eyes lit up, "yes! That was his name, Victor Nikiforov. Thank you, sir Knight."

Yuuri thought's scrambled as the servant bowed.

"Has he, said anything, to anyone, to why he disappeared for three months?"

The servant stood straight, then shook his head, "he hasn't talked with anyone, from what I've heard. Even got a room in the city instead of resting in the castle. Isn't that odd?"

"Yeah," he agreed, voice drifting off at the end.

Dark eyes looked at him in curiosity, then the servant said "rest easy" before he walked away with a quick bow.

Yuuri turned his head to the door the servant cracked open, then pushed it in, going slow as he pushed down his racing thoughts. His eyes gave everything a quick glance as he walked inside, then he closed the door behind him as he examined it further.

The room was spacious enough, bigger than any inn's room he stayed at before. There was a couch-bed he was used to seeing in the East and South, as well as a regular bed pushed up against the back wall, directly in the center. A table was to his left, with an oval mirror standing on the bare surface with clawed feet. To his right, he saw the empty closet the servant talked about, also with clawed feet.

Yuuri fixed his glasses while he walked to the couch-bed, and frowned when he felt a lock of greasy hair touch the back of his hand.

A servant came as he contemplated whether or not to take off his leather armor to lie down, and he thanked them for the basin as they sat it down on the table, then washed himself as best he could after they left.

With that done, he laid on the couch with his armor off, and stared at one of the tapestry in the room as he rested, not really seeing it as he allowed his mind to wonder.

Victor Nikiforov, a living legend in the skating world, someone that Yuuri had admired since he was twelve after Yuko showed him a moving tapestry that showed his two performances side-by-side. Yuko _still_ had that tapestry, pinned up on the wall of the family's living room, even though the magic in the cloth was starting to fade, telling to all that it was cheaply made.

The older man had won four consecutive golds at Worlds, a feat no other skater had done before, and was looking to get his fifth at the competition in March, until the man disappeared a few days after the Gala for the Grand Prix Finals; a Gala that Yuuri was told to guard since his company was in the area for their own tournament.

It was stupid to think that he was the cause for Victor's disappearance, because the older man was seen leaving with his coach and fellow skaters for their city the day after Yuuri left the city was the mother of all hangovers. Yet his mind continued to pound in the irrational idea that _Yuuri_ was the reason that Victor was gone, which just wasn't true. Yuuri wasn't  _that_ much of a screw up, and he made sure to drink  _after_ the Gala was over, and the skaters were in their rooms.

It might just be as many were saying, that the older man just needed a _break_ from it all, and settled in some unknown town where people wouldn't know who he saw. Or that eccentric man wanted to surprise people by  _not_ participating at World's.

But that theory was all but disproved, since Victor hasn't showed his face  _anywhere._

Until now, apparently.

A knock came from behind the door and he jerked up, then called the servant in, who informed him that the librarian was making progress with translating the fairy's words; she also told him that the fairy was only slightly malnourished, but should make a full recovry.

"Thank you for tell me," he said, then stretched his back, feeling tiny cracks in the process.

The servant came up from her small bow, "the ceremony shall start soon. Have you rested enough to join us, or do you wish to wait for the festival?"

Yuuri thought for a second, then got up from the bed.

"I'll go to the courtyard after I put on my armor."

"Would you like help with that?"

His eyes glanced to his pile of leather, then back.

"If that's not a problem."

"Not at all, sir Knight. Shall I give them a quick polish?"

Yuuri shook his head, "it's fine as it is. But thanks for the offer."

The servant nodded, then they both walked to the pile.

The cold courtyard was draped with beautiful cloths of purple and greens, held up by stalks, with slits of mesh to allow in the sunlight. Nobles were already on the stairs, and those that didn't fit were lined up in front of the hedges on either side. The servant led him towards the wooden gate of the castle, and placed him in the large gap between the right line of gossiping nobles and one of the guard towers; then the servant bowed before taking her leave.

Yuuri greeted the teenager in traveling clothes he would be standing next to  politely - huh, the older nobles were near the front, and those younger were near the gate - as he settled in the place he was directed to, and got a hum of disinterest in return.

He didn't let it bother him, and decided to examine the cloths up above to pass the time, feeling the teen shuffle impatiently next to him. Yuuri moved his gaze down the length on one gorgeous design, and paused.

_"Snow?"_

The teen grunted in question, and Yuuri pointed to the entrance he was looking, "it's snowing."

"Huh...Thought snow in Spring only happened in the North - "

A bell sounded from the city to their right, and drowned the teen's words.

They both looked towards the gate as cheers came from behind it. Loud creaks came from the gears as the gate raised, revealing a crowd split in two, and someone with a familiar shade of silver hair approaching them.

The teen mumbled some words in a foreign language Yuuri wasn't familiar with, and Yuuri's mind was too busy telling him that the older man was just as handsome as he remembered him to try and decipher it anyway.  **"Hey Victor, time for a little chat?"**

The teen's loud voice barely broke through the crowd's cheers, which was probably why Victor didn't hear him. Said teen bristled next to him as the older man came closer, a small smile on his cupid lips. Yuuri's eyes examined Victor as he drew nearer, and noticed that his clothes were similar to his last skating outfit, except he wore no gloves, wore a cloak instead of a coat, and substituted ice skates for knee high boots. The color of his traveling cloak was like his rhinestone jacket, with light pink to red coloring, except the cloak ending in dark red, and went to his knees without a cut in the back.

The cloak - along with the rest of his clothing - was made of thicker material than the skating outfit, and was travel worn to the point that it seemed that the man hadn't cleaned it in months. 

In fact, the older man  _himself_ looked traveled worn, with his hair longer than Yuuri saw him last, and nails longer too, as if Victor had forgotten to cut both during the months he's been on vacation.

**"Who gave you that shitty ring, Vitya?"** the teen asked while leaning forward, a sneer on his face.

Victor didn't glance over as he stepped into the courtyard, but the nobles near them that had begun to clap gave the teen a withered look. Yuuri almost did as well, but something about Victor's face was, off. The older man looked  _tired,_ with dark circles under his vibrant blue eyes, and his complexion was sickly pale. Yuuri's eyes looked down at Victor's hands again, to find the ring that the teen had mentioned, which he found on the ring finger.

The bronze color unnerved him, though it did heighten the color of the red jewel.

_**"Oi, Vitya - "** _

A small  _"shh"_ came from Yuuri's left, and he turned with the teen to see a child with glaring eyes.

"Don't you _'shh'_ me, brat.  ** _Victor, what the hell is - "_**

"Maybe you should be quiet for now," Yuuri asked of the teen politely as he grabbed the blond before he could run after the older man, and got venomous green eyes in return. "Sorry, but you can speak with him after the ceremony. Without causing a scene and being kicked out before you two can have a proper conversation."

The teen grunted, opened his mouth, then paused.

"Have we meet before?"

Yuuri blinked at the sudden change of topic, and couldn't speak for a few seconds.

"I don't, think so?"

Green eyes stayed narrowed in thought, then examined his face.

The scoff took him by surprise, "now I remember. You're that asshole who turned Vitya into a love - "

**_"Citizens of Zahra."_** The teen glared for a second more as Yuuri looked down to the King.  ** _"And our wonderful guests. Today marks the four hundredth anniversary of the fight between the reincarnated Gods Ajit and Jagjit, two lovers who were doomed by fate to kill the other. And as tradition dictates, the victor of our tournament is given the honor of holding the sword that took Jagjit's life."_**

Yuuri clapped with the rest as the King moved to the side, and the beautiful snake coiled hilt sword was brought out on a pillowed bed, carried by four vassals dressed in the cloths of the Snake Deity. The teen besides him picked up his foot and tapped his toe on the ground in impatience as the vassals knelt, holding the sword up as the sound seemed to echo in the courtyard.

As eyes looked over to them in judgement Yuuri gave a nervous smile, then turned to the teen as he quickly thought of what to say to the blond, but stopped when he heard gasps from the crowd.

The bright sword was held up high in the air by Victor, the smooth metal catching the slim light from the slits in the cloths. He watched as Victor twirled the sword in his hand once smoothly, as if he had done it a million times before. Yuuri pushed up his glasses further on his face and leaned forward, trying to see the older man better. Victor  _seemed_ to have appreciation on his face as he tossed the sword in the air, much as Yuuri saw the King do, catching it much like the King did as well.

The nobles tittered at that.

_"Why are you so happy about a damn sword?"_ the teen beside him muttered under his breath, and Yuuri glanced over.

_"Victor doesn't like swords?"_ he whispered so not to draw attention over.

Narrow eyes glared over. 

_"No. The only blades Vitya likes are his golden skates. Don't know why he's so damn happy about an ancient blade when you're here - "_

**_"Stop him!"_ **

Yuuri turned to the entrance of the castle at the panicked shout as the sound of confusion went off around him.

**_"The blood emblem,"_** a frazzled man shouted from the entrance, and Yuuri felt the shift in the soldiers,  ** _"the man before you is soulless - "_**

A violent gust of wind swirled in the courtyard, full of ill intent, and the civilians screamed.

As the sound of cloth ripping to shreds came from above, Yuuri quickly shielded the two children with his body. With them as safe as he could get them, he looked towards the source while the civilians started to faint or cower to the ground.

With a flick of outstretched arms, Victor sent the charging soldiers into the biting wind swallowing their voices.

Yuuri wasted no time for thought, he only made the teen huddle with the child and ran to Victor, barely noticing that the wind was dying down.

"So the males of Sages can still be born weak in magic," Victor spoke as Yuuri neared the single step that would lead him to the older man, "you will be a problem later, regardless."

An ax-fan raised in the air just as Yuuri jumped the stone step, then it flew when he landed.

A child's blood curdling scream of grief echoed in the stiff air, and Yuuri didn't hesitate to pull out his blade. Victor turned with the ceremony sword quick as lightning, and the two metals sang. Yuuri planted his feet and pushed, hoping to make the taller kneel; but Victor stayed firm.

Bright blue eyes stared straight into his, full of life that he didn't see earlier.

"A warrior should not have such a blatant weakness, child of oath - "

Something glowing and red collided with Victor's head, and the taller lost footing for a second, but threw Yuuri back before he could take advantage of the taller's moment of weakness. The surprising strength made him stumble back, though he quickly got his footing as the hostile fairy attacked Victor's left hand, tugging on it violently. Victor responded before Yuuri could raised his sword, grabbing the fairy with a tight grip and throwing them to the ground, where they bounced before skidding to a rough stop.

The taller shook his head, sword at his side, and clearly distracted by something at how he tilted his head to the left. Yuuri straightened his knees, knowing what he had to do. With a deep breath he positioned his blade, then swung it back, aiming for the pale neck with his eyes.

_"Never hesitate,"_ the memory told him, and Yuuri twisted his upper body.

"Yuuri."

His arms stilled, and his eyes moved up. Those once vibrant blue eyes were duller than before, and were slowing moving over Yuuri's face. The long fingered, elegant hand raised with a shake, then started to reach for him. There was no voice in his throat as burning fingertips touched his nose, leaving a cold trail as they slid down to his chin. Blue eyes slowly looked back up, seeming to see him, yet not.

"V-Victor?" he asked, needing to know before he moved.

The older man said nothing only looked down.

Yuuri's hands tightened on his  _wakizachi's_ hilt, but he looked down to, and saw that the bronze ring was pulled down to Victor's first knuckle.

One hand slowly loosened to reached for it, but his wrist was quickly caught.

"The girl," Victor spoke without emotion before Yuuri could attack, the cold hand that caught his wrist shaking, "go. Quickly."

A heartbeat passed, then Yuuri lowered his blade, running around the lopsided older man and to the quiet girl. He put his free hand under her arm and pulled, yet her clawed hands wouldn't let go of the headless body.

"We have to leave," he told her, not unkindly.

Her stiff head shook twice, and Yuuri made the decision to drop his blade to pry her fingers apart. She said and did nothing while he uncurled her fingers, and Yuuri pulled her up when he was done, picking up his blade as well as he went. Yuuri had to pul her down the steps to get her to move, and was glad that she didn't trip and fall while they reached the last step, his eyes flickering to movement.

The teenager from earlier was stopping in front of Victor with a worried grimace on his face, and Yuuri froze as his duty was suddenly split in two.

The blond spoke in a foreign language as he took the left hand that still hung in the air, and tried to pull off the ring. A hand raised quickly, and Yuuri let go of the girl as he ran forward, the teen being lifted into the air by a pale hand wrapped around his throat.  _"V-Victor - "_

A fist slammed into Yuuri's sternum, and he fell to his knees with a gasping cough.

"Why couldn't your ancestors have died with the rest?"

The teen spat out choking words in the foreign language as Yuuri tried to collect himself as quickly as he could, then he heard those words choked to silence.

"I suppose you are telling me to let you go, is that it?"

Yuuri pushed himself up with a loud, burning cough, and planted his feet as he ignored the pain and looked for an opening, "put the child down, Victor."

Blue eyes looked down at him, full of annoyance, and hatred.

"You should have ran with the Sage while you had - "

One of the teen's wild kicks connected as Yuuri rushed forward, the teen gasping as he was dropped.

Something metal and cold entered his chest, and Yuuri's feet stopped, his eyes on the broad shoulder of Victor's. His blade fell so easily from his hands, and it confused him. Victor stepped back from him and Yuuri tried to move too, but the older man planted a foot on his chest and kicked. Something  _wrong_ scrapped against his bones, something red, and Yuuri barely felt the cold stone on his back when he fell. The taller man passed him without a second glance, and Yuuri's fingers barely curled on the flowing cloak as he tried to stop him.

His own heartbeat was drowning out every sound with it's watery pound, and his body could only move slowly. Even so, he had to save the girl, he  _had_ too. Crawling he reached for his sword, his dislodged glasses barely a concern. The girl's screams were silent in his ears as she was dragged into the swallowing ground, small hands scraping at smooth stone in desperation.

Then both the girl and Victor were gone, and the world started to get even blurrier. Heavy eyes tried to stay open as a snowflake fell on the back of his hand and melted, adding to the puddle around him, leaving his clothes sticky and wet. But, somehow, it wasn't uncomfortable. The cold stopped biting as well, and almost felt warm, like the milk remedy his mother would make for him to help with his sleep.

That was what he wanted to do, go to sleep.

If only for a little while.

Cold splashed on his head, where it seeped under his skin, and flowed into his body with a feverish bliss.

Yuuri blinked his eyes slowly opened at the sound of hinges, seeing a blurred dark sky above him, and a strangely fired torched in front of him, out of view. He closed his eyes to the brightness, and immediately knew that he needed water of some kind. His stomach chimed in to tell him that he needed to eat and soon, and his body told him to stay in bed for a few minutes more because it was hurting.

He took a deep breath in, and began to cough from the burn, then coughed some more at how dry histhroat was.

Something tinged on his chest as he tried to sit up, and he tried to open his eyes, but it  _hurt._

"Oh dear, the potion!"

He tried to look at the stranger's voice, but then something freezing cold was poured down his head, and he gave a yelp as he sat up, then coughed again. In seconds his pain seemed to leave, and Yuuri stretched up as he took a deep breath in, feeling his back give blissful cracks. He cleared his throat, then thanked the blurry person as he took the offered cup, drinking the cool water slow.

"How are you feeling?" the stranger asked when Yuuri moved the cup away. He opened his mouth to answer, but stopped when something icy cold plastered itself on his cheek. His eyes moved to the right, but all he saw was a pink glow out of the corner of his eye. "Master Victor - " Yuuri tensed " - please don't exert yourself."

"Victor?"

The stranger turned to look at him.

"Right. Mother Jemma will be able to answer your question. However, the meeting shall be soon, so, could sir Knight wait another hour?" Yuuri blinked his tired eyes, then nodded. "Good. For now, I will have food and water brought for you both. Vic - Master fairy, please rest."

The fairy at his cheek moved away as the servant began to leave, and settled on Yuuri's wrist, hugging his thumb with their cold body.

Then the door closed, and the pieces started to click.

"Victor?"

A still second passed.

Another.

Then a single buzz came from translucent wings.

Yuuri blinked his tired eyes, and the tiny arms didn't let go of his thumb.

"How are the others? The civilians and the teenager, are they alive?"

The fairy - no, Victor - was quiet again.

Then three buzzes.

"R-right. Is the teenager okay? The...blond boy who was choked by - not...you..."

Quiet.

A single buzz.

Yuuri nodded, "okay. And the civilians?"

Three buzzes.

His heart sank, then he had a silent moment to himself.

"Alright. How did you become, this." Victor was quiet for a long time. "Do you remember how?"

A single buzz almost immediately.

"Good, then we can find a way to return you to normal. And save the girl in the process."

Victor gave a single buzz, then hugged his thumb tighter.

Figuring that the older man needed comfort for what he's been through, Yuuri let him, and even rubbed his fingers against Victor's wrapped arms gently.

The meeting was beginning to seem that it would take forever to arrive, and the food he gobbled down from his nerves settled heavily in his stomach. Victor rubbed the back of Yuuri's hand, as if sensing his discomfort, and Yuuri smiled weakly, trying not to think too much what has happened, or that Victor was the size of his palm to pinkie finger.

To work off both his growing anxiety and the meal, he walked around the room, stretched his tense muscles, then - after remembering those lessons Minako gave him long ago - began to do a simple ballet routine.

The sharp claps when he was done told him that he wasn't alone in the room, and he pushed down the thought that his shrunken idol was watching him dance as he performed another ballet routine, glad to see that his body was still working.

In the middle of his third routine, a servant arrived to take them to the meeting room, and Yuuri let Victor rest on his shoulder before he followed the man.

The air was tense when they arrived, despite there being only four nobles in the room, who were chatting civilly to each other in hushed tones. They all gave Yuuri the proper greeting, and Yuuri gave his in return, not feeling bother or rejected when they went back to speaking with one another. He examined the meeting room as the servant led him to one of the three empty chairs, and saw that the room was large, despite the long table. Bookshelves and scrolls made up for it, however, as well as rounded pillars that seemed more for decoration than anything.

When he sat down in the large wooden chair and the servant started to leave, two more people started to trickle in, included the teenager. Yuuri's eyes went to the dark bruise around the blond's neck, yet saw that the teen seemed to be the same as before, not affected by his near death experience. Either that, or he was a good actor.

Victor stood up on his shoulder, and green eyes looked over, narrowed slightly, then the teen walked over.

"Back off old man," the blond stated, and sat heavily in the empty chair with a huff.

Victor buzzed again, then sat back down.

"I'm glad to see that you're alright," Yuuri told the teen, who grunted and told him to shut up.

"Have you managed to figure out how many soldiers we can send?" the older man at the head of the table asked, sitting - what looked to be - uncomfortably straight in his chair.

"A hundred soldiers are all we can spare on short notice," a knight with red cloth and screaming skeletons on her pauldron answered, which Yuuri figured she was a Captain like the other knight.

The older man - had to be the former King's brother, from the age and features - closed his eyes.

"How fitting," the man spoke dryly, "a hundred soldiers to each land. Then, shall we speak of the other matters at hand?"

"I just want to know how to get the old man his body back," the teen with an edge in his voice as Yuuri opened his mouth, the blond practically telling anyone to speak of something else.

Yuuri felt wings tickle his ear.

"It's possible to bring one's soul back who had it ripped out if the cause was a blood emblem, "the Minister answered, a hint of tiredness in her voice. "However, the stone needs to be torn by the soul itself, or an outside party that does not have the bloodline of the dead King's enemies."

"And the stone preferably destroyed afterwards," a council member added.

"Which means finding the bastard first. Where is he?"

"Going after the bloodline," the King's brother answered with patience in his voice, "for the descendants of those who sealed their beloved power away from them. I am sure you, as young as you are, know not of the catastrophe that had happened a thousand years ago."

A chill went down his spine at the old man's words.

"You mean the Calamity."

"The what?" the teen asked in confusion.

The old man nodded to Yuuri before he turned to the blond, "the event of the Bronze Age where the Kings had Heaven born on earth, and the earth born in the Heavens. A slaughter brought upon by a nameless God who spoke into the ears of the four, about an unlimited power hidden in the sands of the South. One that anyone could wield, lying in wait inside the Tower."

The teen hummed in impatience as Yuuri looked down to the table.

_"A hundred soldiers from the East,"_ he recited the words his parents' told him as a child, _"a hundred from the West. A hundred from the South. A hundred from the North. They are all that stand between us Seven, and the hoard of villainous men and the creatures of Shadows."_

"Oh, that play." Yuuri didn't glance up at the blond's confused, but thoughtful, voice. "Isn't that all an exaggerated mess of a fairy tale to entertain people?"

"In some iterations," one of the council members answered with a hoarse voice.

"Yet the premise is true," the King's brother said as Yuuri picked up his head, "the Four Kings learned of that power, and started a year long war to be the first to get it. The Sages that were not corrupted planned to go to the entrance of the desolated city that lead to the Tower to seal the magic away. Knights who still believed in their moral heard the prayers of the Sages by the ancient Gods, and met the Sages at the plateaued city, vowing to protect them from malicious forces. Many died to keep that vow, and those of us in this room are either descendant of those brave knights, and the Sages."

Yuuri linked his fingers in together in his lap.

"So," the teen spoke slowly, leaning forward on the table, "what I'm getting from this is, that douche possessing Vitya wants to open the Tower, and release every evil soldier that was locked inside, along with the monsters. To do that, it need the descendants of Sages, meaning, people from the royal families...?"

"Not counting the illegitimate children that must have been born over the years," a council member answered the blond.

"And the inbred ones that all but lost their powers won't be targeted by the vessel of the King," another stated.

"Essentially," the King's brother spoke with a tone of finality, "we need to save who we can, hide them away until we can destroy the stone, and pray that what the vessel holds is the last and only blood emblem of the Kings in existence. We must not let the possessed man throw open the doors to the Tower."

The teen hummed in understanding, "got it. Can we go, now?"

"What about Princess Juanita?" Yuuri asked before someone could answer the teen's question, his chest tight.

The King's brother went stiff and emotionless.

"We have to move on the possibility that the Princess is dead."

Yuuri tightened his fingers at the phantom pain.

"I - remember the Princess being sucked into the ground. I think, if he wanted her dead, he would have killed her then and there."

"Or he needs to kill her somewhere specifically," the Minister told him, a dead tone to her voice. "Ritual sacrifices, whether human or animal, were common to break curses back in those days. And to break protective spells, in our case."

Yuuri swallowed before speaking his words, "I believe she will be kept alive, until he has the other Sages. And that she will be kept on earth."

Confused sound came from around the table, but the teen gave the loudest, _"huh?"_

"She was pulled _into_ the earth," Yuuri explained slowly, feeling his heart begin to race, "perhaps, she was pulled into an earth that was born in Heaven."

The teen muttered under his breath in what sounded like a consending tone.

The King's brother gave him a long look as no one else spoke up.

"Even so," the King's brother spoke, "the only way into the earth is where the Tower lies. A nameless city impossible to climb. Five thousand of the finest soldiers wouldn't be able to topple the infrastructure."

"You wouldn't be sending five thousand soldiers to the forbidden city," he told the King's brother, feeling lightheaded, but continued speaking, "but a hedgeknight is offering his help."

The other man stared at him with a tilted head, thoughtful.

Yuuri's heart skipped a beat.

"It is dangerous to go alone," the oldest in the room chided Yuuri, "foolish."

"But the vessel could be hiding in the earth as we suspect," the captain spoke with a clear tone. "However, Alexandros is right. Climbing up the city surrounding the Tower is suicide alone, and you would be too tired to fight the vessel if you _do_ find a way in."

"And there is no way to know if there even is a way back from the earth if you rescue her," someone else spoke up.

"The mirror goes both ways," Yuuri spoke with modulation.

The council stared at him.

"The mirror," the teen repeated with a sneer. "Labhradha's mirror. The traveling merchant's mirror. A mirror that may or may not exist in either place. _That_ is what you're going to bet your life on?"

Yuuri nodded, curling one thumb over the other as his chest tightened.

"There is no evidence to support the existence of the mirror as the child says," the King's brother told Yuuri, "nor that Labhadha even existed. Are you certain in your convictions?"

"I am."

"Raphael," the Minister spoke to the King's brother, "we can't in good conscience send even a single man to certain death." Dark eyes continued to stay into his, and Yuuri didn't look away, despite his growing anxiety. "Raphael."

"And what if my niece is still alive," the King's brother stated. 

The room grew stiff.

"I'll go with him." Yuuri blinked, and turned to look at the teen with the rest. "What?"

"How old are you?" the Captain asked in a tone that suggested she already knew the answer.

The teen sat up from his slouch.

"Seventeen."

Victor's wings buzzed twice.

"I will go alone," Yuuri told the council with a strong voice, "I can't ask another to die with me."

"There must be someone with you to watch your back," the Captain argued with him.

Victor buzzed his wings once.

"With our terrible Winter," a council member began slowly, leaning forward on their elbow, "had not a small town in the East sent us a holy warrior along with a supply of food, to help with the demonic wolves that snipped at our heels?"

The oldest in the room hummed, "yes. He should still be in the city, if I recall. To see things through, as the young man said."

"A holy warrior of the Gold Goddess will _still_ not be enough for the monstrosities of the Tower," the Captain said, "even if the Goddess herself stayed by his side. But, if he agrees to the task when we ask, we can't stop him."

"Then it's settled," the King's brother began, "the Knight will go to the plateaued city, while the young skater shall - "

**"I can fight!"** the teen shouted, standing up, and toppled the chair.

"I've no doubt you could," the King's brother spoke with patience once more, "however, you are a child, with no expertise, while this knight - "

"In the North, a thirteen can fight in a war if it's called for. And I'm _fifteen,_ so I can go with them!"

"I will not allow a child to walk into certain doom," the King's brother said, voice unnaturally calm.

"I'm **not** a **_child!"_**

"You will go with my men to the North," the Captain spoke with a lesser civil tone than the King's brother. "Or leave for another distant land. But you will not go to the Tower."

"This is bullshit - " Victor flew off his shoulder and tinged **" - fuck off Vitya! I can fight a few beast - "**

Yuuri winched, both from sympathy, and the palm that suddenly slammed on the table. No one spoke a word, and even the teenager didn't so much as grunt in defiance The King's brother curled his fist, then took a deep breath as he picked his head back up.

"You will go with the soldiers to the North," the older man ordered, voice still calm, despite his action, "and the Knight to the Tower, with the holy warrior, if he agrees. Now go. You too, Captain Keeta. And see if you can find the holy warrior."

"Yes sire," the Captain spoke as Yuuri stood with her, glancing at the council members that stayed, but figured that they needed to talk about the cost of damage.

The teen glared at the ground as he passed him, and he felt Victor stay next to the blond. No words were spoken between them, but he felt the teenager begin to follow him out of the meeting hall. Yuuri glanced to the servant that had led him to the meeting room, and turned back to the teen, who still had narrow eyes. Those eyes flickered up at him, and seemed to burn with hatred, before he violently shoved passed him. Victor flew off the teen's head a second later, resting on Yuuri's shoulder with what felt like a slump.

"I need my armor," he asked of the servant, arm throbbing slightly from the shove, "and a piece of paper."

The night air was cold when he left the castle, wearing a mix of leather armor, and chainmail to get used to it. He pulled at his gloves that were sewed into the black metal at the wrist in a strange pattern, and hoped that it wouldn't be hard to get off for his last night, one where he wanted to sleep comfortably. Victor floated in front of him as Yuuri continued to mess with his new outfit, and tapped his boots on the ground when he heard the familiar sound of dog nails on stone.

He paused, then looked up at the sound.

A hound of the Copper God was following a Bird, their wax robes moving stiffly as they moved the smoking urn back and forth. Yuuri's eyes stared at the bone white mask the Servant wore, and felt a cold shiver go down his back when the head turned, and black glassed eyes stared right at him, as if the Servant could smell death on him. Yuuri quickened his pass, and flinched away from another Bird praying with a bow head while leaning on their stick, even though they were more than an arm's length away.

The moonlight flashed over their collar as Yuuri walked into the hedge, and he saw that the Servant had a faded God on their collar, an ill omen if he ever saw one.

When he turned the corner, he took a deep breath, then took off his bag. Victor's wing tickled his ear as Yuuri found what he needed, and breathed easier when he saw that the pouch wasn't messed with, and that the weight was perfect.

Spreading it opened as far as he could, he sat the bag in the ground, then stuck his hand inside. The cold bled through his new glove, and wasn't as biting as when he last touched it. He held the round edge, feeling his breath get heavy from his fear.

_"Do you trust me?"_ he asked of Victor, whispering so the Birds didn't hear him.

A wing softly tickled his ear, the single sound that came from Victor light.

_"Thank you,"_ he whispered, grateful, then pulled out the metal.

The ancient polished bronze showed him back his own face, as clean and crisp as a mirror. Victor's bright pink light made a strange color in the metal, and heightened his features to someone he was not.

_"Don't look too long into it,"_ he told Victor, then went to find a place where the mirror burned hot.


	2. One Soul Lies Anxious Wide Awake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song is called Lullaby of Woe from the Witcher 3 Soundtrack. People who played Dark Souls 3 and D&D might notice a reference in here as well as the blatant Zelda references. Still don't have a beta.

**April 11 [µ] 1023**

His back hit the ground hard, and his vision swirled. Yuuri told his mind that the ground was underneath him instead of above, then sat up slow. Even with his words and past experiences, his body moved from right to left, and the sense of vomit began to climb up his throat. With a deep breath he pushed the urge down, climbed up to his feet, and leaned against the tree when his ears suddenly clogged up with air, and spots appeared before his eyes. 

Pink streaked in front of him, and he closed his eyes as he felt dry air swirl around him, then land on his shoulder.

_'Oh.'_ "Are you alright?" Yuuri asked, not removing himself from the warm bark.

Victor buzzed, then placed a palm on his jaw, the silent question obvious.

"I'm fine, Victor." With a deep breath, Yuuri opened his eyes slow, then placed a hand on the bark behind him, feeling that it was smooth immediately as he pushed himself off, since his gloves didn't snag. His world seemed to right himself, so he stretched - he had to stop for a second and apologized to Victor when he felt the tug on his chainmail - his back, then put the mirror into it's pouch, then that in his pack. "Hold on tight."

A buzz tickled his ear.

Yuuri turned on his heel to survey the area, his eyes glancing at the reddish, purple bark - different breed than the one mirrored to Hasetsu - then to the shiny red leaves, before he measured the distance. His mind made a note that the earth was different as well, the soil white and almost chalk-like, and the ground underneath it was a healthy blue; the wind taking the dry dust when it blew softly. Yuuri secured his bag while he turned towards the main stretch of land, and saw what looked like ruins in the distance, the world's dull red moss and vines clinging to the rock structures that protruded from the ground.

Taking a step back, he stared at the platform in front of him, then ran to the edge at full speed. Years of playing in the mirror world in his youth made his body jump at the right time, and closed his eyes before he could be blinded by the sun below. Rolling on the shoulder Victor was not on, Yuuri stopped himself before he could fall off the platform, then checked how long the hovered land was, turning to see where the other platforms were. 

Taking a few steps back, he looked down to Victor, who didn't droop his opaque wings, so he continued to the main stretch of land.

In place of Zaahir's castle, there was flat land on top of the large platform, the stones - as he had thought - that of an ancient civilization. The large stones were scattered few and far between, as if a violent force blew the building apart from the inside out; along with the people, too. Curious, Yuuri's eyes moved down at what was clearly metalwork from the other world at his heel, then bent down to pick up the rusted helmet in his - thankfully - gloved hands. Remnants of tusks and a hole for a snout was all he could decipher in the pierced face that was underneath the helmet, the white ground below visible from the hole in the skull.

_'Couldn't be recent.'_

Yuuri moved his gaze to look back at the ruins, and saw no footprints around him that matched his own feet, so he dropped the helmet and turned to where the gate was in their world; the ground seemed to drop in what looked like a slope up ahead. Pushing his glasses further on his face, his eyes examined the ground towards his left, and saw what seemed to be cracked white earth further ahead, close to where the girl  _could_ have been dropped.

Victor tinged next to his ear in what sounded like surprise, and Yuuri snapped out of his thoughts, then to where Victor was flying towards in a beeline.

His eyes moved to examine the area, and he frowned at the sight of blond hair he saw, crossing his arms when the blond picked themselves up off the ground, someone taller - wearing white with dull blue, a common color for both traveling nobility that wished to be humble, and young priests - using a long staff to balance themselves.

Yuuri stared at the sight for a while longer, mind swirling, then made his way over when Victor reached them.

"You stole that from the armory?" the blond teen asked when Yuuri landed on the platform, barely hiding that he was affected by everything around him.

"Gifted," he gave the short answer, then looked over to the one who came with the teen, watching him retract the staff, and slide it on a holster in his belt. "You allowed him to follow you, or dod you bring the teenager with you, Man of Faith?"

The holy warrior stared right into his eyes.

"He was following you regardless, Abyss Watcher."

His heart gave a panicked spasm while the blond teen turned to glare up at the older next to him.

"Why were you stalking me, asshole?"

The holy warrior broke eye contact, "my Goddess leads me to where I'm needed. I'm sorry if it seemed nefarious." Then dark brown eyes looked up to Yuuri, "where do you need me?"

Yuuri opened his mouth as Victor tinged next to the blond.

"I'm not going anywhere assholes," the teen interrupted, swatting at Victor, "so tell me where that douche is!"

Yuuri gave a fake smile as Victor gave a sharp pitched chime, "if I say no will you actually leave?"

The teen scoffed in his face.

_'Thought not.'_ "Do you even have a weapon?" he asked, and the blond immediately pulled out a knife fit for skinning rabbits, and didn't hold it  _quite_ right.

He closed his slightly burning eyes, wondering if he could throw the teen back into the warp point and close it behind him, then decided that as long as Yuuri left the blond at an inn at the nearest town it should be fine. Decision made, Yuuri gave the holy warrior a look over, then nodded to the dagger in his dull blue boot. The man - young adult, late teen? - bent down to pull the strong looking blade out, then flipped the handle in his hand before he offered it to the teenager.

Green eyes sparkled at the - more expensive - weapon, and Yuuri watched how he handled it, glad that the holy warrior corrected his grip silently.

"You watch him," he ordered the holy warrior, then asked "what are your names?" as the teen growled that he didn't need to be looked after.

"Otabek Altin," the holy warrior told him.

Yuuri tilted his head down to the teen, who huffed, "Yuri Plisetsky."

He blinked quickly.

"Oh."

"Got a problem with that?!"

Yuuri leaned back, "no." Green eyes continued to glare, and Yuuri addressed the both of them, "I'm Katsuki Yu - Yuuri Katsuki." Then he looked to Otabek as he motioned to Victor. "And this is Victor Nikiforov."

The holy warrior nodded at them both. "We should go, in case scavengers from the sky fly by." The blond - Yuri - looked with a slightly worried frown. "And try not to fall. The beings of this world might save you, or they won't."

Dark brown eyes stared at him with barely any concern, while the blond only looked confused, so Yuuri turned back, and dug a line in the ground to where they had to launch themselves to the next platform.

The land at the 'gate' was connected to the land down below with a deep slope - as he thought - the dark blue stones faded, cracked, and vegetation growing from said cracks. There was a town at the bottom, a normal looking one, and not one with unconnected doors. That was good, it meant that he only had to worry about the normal set of beings. Yuuri turned to the three following close behind him, still pale from nearly falling off, and knew that he couldn't ask either of the younger ones to act towards the people that lived in the mirror world; which meant that he couldn't screw up.

"I'll do all the talking," he told them when they stopped on either side of him, "don't say anything, don't look too long at the inhabitants, don't pick a fight - Yuri huffed " - and let them deal with any monsters that enter the city."

"Inhabitants?" the teen asked, moving the leg that held his new dagger in it's furred exterior.

Yuuri nodded, then talked to Victor, "fairies are about as common here as they are in our own world, but maybe, if you could, can you lower your light?"

Victor tinged, then hovered in the air with slowing wings.

"Perhaps he should be kept in your bag," Otabek suggested after no changed happened.

Yuuri glanced down to the city.

"Perhaps not that far. Like I said, fairies are common enough, and we are already going to get looks. But, maybe you should stay close to me."

Victor gave a chime, then flew to settle on his shoulder.

He took a deep breath, then let it out slow as the sound of drums and stringed instruments came from down below.  _'A member of the King's army,'_ he told himself, then began to walk down the eroded stairs, building himself up as his anxiety threatened to tear him apart.

The city smelt, heavy, like a bog, but not with that disgusting smell that came with the swamps. As with Hasetsu's mirrored town, the people of the other world were taller than them, _well_ over their heads, with thicker skin, and a far wider chest than them. Curious eyes glanced down at the four of them as they passed, and he could feel the younger two behind him return the attention, though Victor only stoop up on his shoulder, and held Yuuri's ear lightly for balance.

"What's that music?" Yuri asked when Yuuri paused at a four-way street, not lowering his voice in the slightest. "Is it sacrificial?"

"Too light," Otabek answered. "Seems almost, festive, the drums. As if two people are gathering everyone's attention with their dancing, and the band is adding to the electric mood."

Yuuri hummed more to the fact that he couldn't find an embassy, then searched for someone that looked friendly enough in the crowd.

"Hello," he began politely to two who looked like a couple, "excuse me. Do you understand me?"

The two slowed and blinked down at him, then looked at each other.

One of the females spoke in a thick, skittering language that Yuuri never heard before, and the other female tilted her head down to Yuuri before she pointed to a large, pointed building, to which she spoke in the Middle Tongue - a language that Yuuri hadn't heard since schooling - two words.

"Earth Tongue," Otabek translated behind him, and of course a Man of the Faith would know the Middle Tongue as well as their Birth Tongue. "Perhaps a teacher?"

Yuuri hummed in thought, then thanked the couple with a bow, so that they would know that he was grateful - apologizing to Victor when he felt the chainmail around his neck tighten - then walked towards the building.

The music changed to a more folkish tone, and he heard cheers from what he supposed was the middle of town not a second later.

"Hey, Katsuki." Yuuri looked down at the blond teen, who gave him a curious look. "I thought this place was a hell pit of murderers and thieves. But everything's, civil."

"We all learned from our past to be better people," Yuuri said as an answer, glancing down at the street they neared before he turned.

Bowls of oil were lit on the smooth stairs of the pointed building they were directed to, four on each side of the wide steps, the smell from the floral, yet musky. One of the double doors were opened, and he saw no guards around, so he went up the stairs with a jog, knowing that if he dawdle he would psyche himself out. Reaching the doors, he slid inside quickly, and took a deep breath in.

The interior  _screamed_ place of study, and not a holy place as he slightly questioned. Yuuri looked for someone while he walked further in, and locked eyes with a person that held a book in his large hand, dressed in thick robes instead of common clothing.

"I need a translator," he spoke, and the curious eyes flooded with understanding, and the male left with a few words in that skittering language.

A sense of anger came behind him, and he turned around.

"Did you come here without even knowing the language?" Yuri asked in a told that told Yuuri the teen just figured it out.

"I know the language to the land mirrored to Hasetsu," he answered, "but not here."

The blond glared, "so you  _did_ steal that armor."

"Raphael granted them to me," Yuuri answered, then turned back around as  _'you're going to fail'_ began to whisper in the corner of his mind, soft wings tickling his ear.

Voices approached after a while of silently fuming behind him, and Yuuri pushed up his glasses as he waited for the two to approach, who were an older man, and a younger female.

"Welcome," the wizard person spoke, pronunciation slightly off. "I suppose you have not fallen up, since you seem calm."

Yuuri nodded, and played his part, "We need to find our King and his captured Sage. Where have they gone?"

The person smiled brightly with some missing teeth, "you are helping to free our trapped family as well, that is well. He has gone to - " a few skittered words " - you will need our - " another skittered word " - to fly over to the...temple."

"Thank you," he said, then asked, "where can I find a - way to fly to the temple?"

The wizard person spoke a word and nodded to the female student - perhaps? - next to him. "She will take you to the stable."

"Thank you again."

The female walked quickly passed them - well, she had longer legs - after a few words, and Yuuri followed her, ignoring the looks the two gave him, and only motioned for them to follow him out of the building, the teen stubbornly staying close by him, refusing a moment's rest to get used to the air of the mirrored world.

At the stables, Yuuri - guiltily - gave the owners all of the gold he had in his coin purse, then went to the two younger ones as they stared staring at their respected birds, the blond examining his yellow-blue one in what seemed to be awe.

"Have either of you ever rode a horse?" Yuuri got a nod from both. "It's the same, but tightening your calves hard will make the bird dive instead of go faster. Click your tongue twice if you want them to speed up, they'll hear the sound."

Yuri hummed, then turned to the saddle, where his fingertips barely grazed the pommel. The bird turned as Yuri struggled with muttered cursed words, snipped his curved beak lightly, and reached down to pick up the teenager gently from his middle before Yuuri could warn him not to panic. Surprisingly, Yuri didn't begin to yell profanity as he was picked up like a small kitten, and instead let the bird drop him in the saddle, only giving a soft huff after the fact.

Yuuri turned to Otabek, and bent down to link his fingers when he saw uncertainty in his eyes. 

With the younger ones on their birds, Yuuri went to his own, tried his pack to his saddle, then got up on the dark bird with ease. Once settled, he put Victor in the belt that held his blade on his back, then grabbed the reigns. The bird rustled her feathers short and quick, and he turned her to the drop off point once she was done, moving with her as her two legs and clawed wings got to the bridge quickly. The dry air pushed at his hair lightly as he looked behind him to watch that the two could control the birds, then turned back in his seat when he saw that the two of them had the hang of it, and tightened his calves hard enough that she would feel it.

Greasy strands whipped at his face violently as the dived, and Yuuri reached a hand up to push his glasses in before he glanced behind him, seeing that it was Otabek's bird that was closer than Yuri, the blond seeming not to know how to fix the bird on the updraft. Yuuri turned back and made for the section of outcroppings - well, platforms with outcroppings - that they showed him to make for with the map.

The mountain range and curved crevice that was one the map began to appear as the sky below turned to a cranberry red, and Yuuri tightened his calves as hard as he could when he was at the right angle. The bird tucked in her wings and shot down as fast as a bolt, the air turning to sharp bites. His glasses only protected so much at the onslaught of wind, and tiny hands gripped his shirt underneath the chainmail tight in what felt like fear.

Once out of the tunnel, the bird spread her wings and began to coast over the empty sky underneath them to the temple. Stalactite hung underneath the island they were climbing towards, the bird navigating around the rocks as Yuuri moved his head to look behind him, seeing that the two were following at a reasonable distance. Then he moved his attention to Victor, who had loosened his grip, and seemed fine, from the lack of droopy wings.

The island had no one walking on the bare ground, and the birds circling above the platform were few. It could be that the King was paranoid - for good reason - or not as loved as Yuuri was always taught. The former seemed more likely, in any case.

Lightly, the bird landed, and Yuuri slid off smoothly, petting her head when she knocked it against his own gently with a nuzzle.

A tiny hand hit his chest, and Yuuri looked down, giving his burning eyes a few blinks for comfort.

"Did I put you in uncomfortably?"

Victor wiggled out, then gave two short buzzed as he swayed in the air a bit.

"Sorry."

Another two buzzed, then a comforting rub on the tip of his nose.

The other two landed smoothly - though really, it was the birds who landed on their own - and Yuuri gave them a quick glance, then turned to examine the large rock that was the entrance to the temple. It was in the shape of a large turtle shell, if the turtle was scooped out and the shell was engraved. A hint of stairs leading down could be seen in the large hole directly in front of him, as well as the faint light of a torch.

"We're going through the front door?" Yuri asked when he approached.

"Unless you can find another way in," Yuuri stated, then turned to Otabek, who didn't seem phased from his flight as Yuuri thought he would. "I need you to play for guidance."

Yuri flickered his eyes over to him as Otabek nodded slowly, then pulled out his staff. From the slight shake he saw the holy warrior's hand do when he retracted the metal, Yuuri could see that his first assumption was wrong. Planting the butt of the staff down, the shorter bowed his head, and prayed silently. Yuuri stared at Otabek's face, ready to intervene the second that he had to.

A warm feeling went down his spine not long after, spreading through his limbs quickly, and nestled inside his bones.

Otabek opened his dark brown eyes slowly, clearly unsettled.

"What's wrong with you?" Yuri asked, seeming concerned.

Otabek frowned further, as if he didn't want to answer, which Yuuri didn't blame him for.

"There are beings in the void that will answer in place of our gods if we pray here," Yuuri answered. "Especially if they believe what we are doing will cause amusement."

Yuri gave him a narrowed look, "amusement? These fuckers only listen if they think it'll end with entertainment?"

He nodded slowly.

"They've no doubt been watching us since you two pulled yourselves up to the warp point." Yuri stuffed his hands in his pocket as Otabek continued to frown at nothing. "Otabek glows brighter than a bonfire at the bottom of a cave, and no amount of stealth spells will hide him." The brow furrowed deeper. "But don't worry, the beings have no loyalties to anyone but themselves."

"Comforting," Otabek spoke dryly, then retracted his staff.

Not sure what to say to that, Yuuri instead examined them both.

"Need a moment to steady yourselves?" he asked.

Yuri scoffed unconvincingly, "of course not."

Yuuri turned to Otabek.

"I do."

The blond looked over, then away, muttering under his breath in a foreign language.

Yuuri turned when there wasn't an argument, then went to 'search' around the rock for another way in, Victor not following.

When he reached the entrance again, he stopped at the lip at the silent younger ones, wondering if it was mercy to leave them outside where they could fly home, or to take them with him. They turned to him before he could come up with a decision, and he waved them over with tight lips, flickering his eyes to Victor as he flew faster than the two walked. Wings lightly tickled his right ear as Victor landed on his shoulder, and Yuuri turned around, let out a long breath through his nose - the panic and failure was buildinginside of him - then began to walk down.

Torches were lit at the bottom of the stairs, and he closed his eyes when he saw nothing move in the dark, and he listened while he adjusted his eyes to the blackness. There were two footsteps and breaths behind him, Victor's light and high breaths, the crackling of the fires, and nothing else.

When the torchlight was bright in the cracks of his lids, he opened his eyes, and looked at the three corridors laid out to him. Instincts and the guidance told him to go to the right, so he did. The others seemed to falter before following him, their footsteps a bit louder than he would have liked them to be, but he could only hope that they would naturally lighten their steps on their own, and kept going.

Finding a switch in the right corridor on the floor, he pushed it down with both feet, then heard a click come from the middle. He motioned for them to go towards the noise as he stepped off, and then followed them when he didn't hear the door close right away. Thankfully, they made it through before the door closed, and he quickly glanced around, pointed to what was obviously the door opener so they'd know, then led them further in.

They met nothing as they walked on in the darkness, not even rats. Victor flew off his shoulders and forward, lighting the way for them when the torches became fewer and far between. The pink light gave a purple hue to the dark blue stones surrounding them, and his mind wondered if they were made from the blue soil he saw before, until he reminded himself to not get too comfortable.

At a stairwell, Yuuri led them down, keeping to his toes as he went lightly. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he looked to the shadows on the wall, but saw only the empty chair poking out at the corner, with no silhouette of a person.  Still, Yuuri stayed cautious, and peaked around the corner once he was close, a hand on his hilt. but no one was there, only a small table, and another chair. On the table were was the source of the light, with it's off-white wax pooling in the holder, and a crossbow with no bolt; not even a plate or deck of cards were on the wooden surface.

Victor flew ahead as Yuuri straightened, motioned for the two to follow. The pink light shined off the dull steel bars to his left, and barely lit up the room inside as Victor slowly moved forward. Yuuri pushed up his glasses as he looked inside the closest cell, yet saw only a bed with a blanket and pillow, as well as a dull metal chamber pot with a lid on it, thankfully. The second dark cell held the same thing, yet there were the bones of a rat on the caved, rotted bed, the smell of decay nowhere to be found.

A chime made him snap his head to Victor, then he walked quickly over at the sound of a girl's confused voice.

"Found her?" Yuri asked, his voice holding a hint of quiet to it.

Victor gave an excited ting as Yuuri leaned forward, then back while Juanita walked towards them, a thin, moth eaten blanket covering her whole body. He gave a kind smile as he examined the girl's face, seeing that she looked, about as well as someone would look for what had happened to her.

"Time to go," Yuuri said, going to the door, and pausing at the sight of lock and chains.

"I have it."

Yuuri turned to Otabek, then moved out of the way when the holy warrior approached. Otabek bent down, then pulled out a small leather satchel from the pocket in his robes. The younger pulled out two thin sticks - one with a straight hook - then stuck the two in the hole, unlocking the door in seconds and yanking it off quickly and nearly silently. Yuuri asked no questions, only watched Otabek open the door, then stumble when the girl ran up and tried to bury herself in the holy warrior's chest, shaking.

His gaze moved to the cell with a frown, not wanting to see the suspicion on his face at how smoothly everything was going, then turned back.

"You two take her home, I'll search for the King."

"What - _hell no!"_

_"Quiet,"_ he hissed, glaring back. "The girl can't stay here," Yuuri told them both as he broke eye contact, "and we need to find the King as well. Get her to safety,  _please."_

"I will," Otabek vowed, and Yuri huffed.

"Fine. But I'm taking the crossbow."

Yuuri stared, confused, then glanced to the table.

"Just exit as you entered, and if trouble seems to brew, you leave with the girl, and you come save us."

Otabek vowed again as Yuri tried to burn a hole in Yuuri's head, then he turned to Victor, "you two better not die."

Victor chimed, then flew to the blond, who immediately protested against the affection, which had Yuuri listening for other noises.

"Go," he ordered Otabek, and Victor moved away from the teen with a chipper chime.

The girl looked up to Yuuri as they began to leave, small hands still tucked under the blanket, and he smiled in what he knew was fake assurance, but he was anxious that they would all get caught before they could get Juanita back home.

"I remember the way," Otabek told Yuri, and the blond followed when the holy warrior began to walk, picking up the crossbow with a glare to Yuuri as he went.

He waited until they were well gone and he heard nothing else, before he turned to Victor, "can you feel your body at all?"

Victor was silent, then gave two chimes.

"That's fine. I'm used to playing by ear, in these situations."

Victor stayed silent while Yuuri walked out of the dungeons, and went up the path they bypassed, sparing a glance to where the three went down before he walked up, hoping that he'd find Victor's body quick and fly away without any trouble.

_'Otabeck should be able to destroy the ring,'_ he thought, peaking around the corner, and continuing to move when he found nothing.

On the next floor up, Yuuri heard voices come at the end of the hall he walked, and he flattened on the wall, listening for just  _how_ far they were. It seemed that he could sneak to the other corridors if he wanted, but that was a risk. He took a deep breath, then walked over to check.

The two seemed to be casually talking to each other in front of a simple wooden door, and dressed more like grunts than someone higher up in the ranks. Yuuri leaned back to think. The possibility was there that the King was planning behind that door, but, to get through, he would have to fight the two soldiers, who were  _much_ larger than him; and though his blade was made for combat in a corridor, he wasn't exactly betting on him winning. Especially if the King  _was_ behind the door, for the fight wouldn't be silent.

Yuuri frowned to himself, then remembered a trick he and his sister had done long ago, which had earned them a scolding from both of their parents. Quietly, he searched for a rock as he quickly went to see if the corridor he passed was connected to the hall the grunts were. Finding one, he felt to see if the weight was right, then curled it in his hand. Once he saw his answer, he tapped the rock in the rhythm of a retreating rat, then quietly ran on his toes to the other side of the hall, hearing them both go after the sound, thankfully.

To be sure, he glanced into the hall, then quickly ran to the door, and poked his head inside as soon as he found it unlocked. Seeing no one, he squeezed inside, and lightly closed the door behind him. The room smelt like a library, which made sense, given the shelves of ancient looking books and scrolls. Victor floated a bit ahead, but waited for Yuuri when he got too far, for he was going slow, ready to attack, as they went to the faint light in the back.

Shadows of a stack of books - perhaps - a feathered pen, and a person - human - hunched, was shown on the smoothed rock wall to Yuuri's left. He kept his breaths slow and low, hoping that the other person didn't hear his racing heart that tried to crack his ribs.

_"Never hesitate."_

Yuuri tightened his fist, then looked around the corner, ready to move in an instant. It was Victor's body, face hidden by his silver hair, head leaning down, no doubt reading the book on the table. Yuuri was close to the taller, which meant all Yuuri had to do, was tackle him and take the ring. He quickly leaned back as the King reached for the quill, and Yuuri gathered himself.

The sound of a pen scratching on parchment paper was light in his ear, and Yuuri looked to Victor, who began to glow red with hostility.

His last breath was long and deep, then he turned the corner, and ran to the King, who could barely pick up his head before Yuuri kicked the chair out from under him, pinning Victor's body to the ground with his own as he reached for the ring.

Which wasn't on his finger.

Wasn't on  _either_ of his fingers.

Yuuri stared at the long digits in disbelief, then turned the body around, examining the pale neck and chest, then began to feel for the ring on the white shirt.

"She has it," he was told, and Yuuri barely glanced up as he patted the puffed sleeves, moving down to the cotton pants. "The ones that took us here, they ripped the ring off, and it bounced to the Sage when they tried to break it."

His hands went back to the pale neck in desperation, then slid down, but didn't feel an illusion.

"They are cruel like the void," he repeated the words from long ago, feeling a chill flow in his veins.

The body sat up, "go. I need to return my soul."

A ting sounded in the room, but Yuuri wasted no time.

He jumped to his feet, and ran out of the library as if it was collapsing, ignoring the two guards as he bolted. It was instinct alone that guided him through the halls to where he needed to be, to where he  _hoped_ the younger ones were.

At the front stairs, he took them two at a time, and tripped on the smooth stone for his efforts, barely feeling his nose crunch as he picked himself up, running to the entrance with all he could.

A burst of lightning raced to him without a hint of warning at the opening, and it narrowly missed as it streaked down to the roof of the descending stairs.

_"Damn brat,"_ Yuuri barely heard a child's voice yell in front of him as he balanced himself from the lean, the thunder slowly drifting away.

**_"Fuck you,"_** Yuri's voice came from his left as Otabek called out to Yuuri.

He ran to the holy warrior and put his body in front of him, barely hearing the prayer as he searched for an opening. The girl - King - turned swiftly towards them, but another crossbow bolt hit the King, the bright light telling Yuuri that it was a spelled bolt. A shake of his head, then the King shot lightning at the teen.

_'So even you have limits,'_ he thought as the King looked up to the sky with a worried look, no doubt to the birds circling above.

The man reached back with his left hand, then forward just as quickly, the lightning narrowly missing the running teen, and Yuuri - putting faith in the blond's aim - called out to the King over the pounding thunder, getting a flicker of dark eyes, to which the teen nearly managed to hit the man in the face with a bolt.

"Move."

Yuuri dove to the left at the order, and rolled up just as a streak of golden light raced passed him, making for the King. Light broke and curved around the small body, breaking into paths, and streaking into the horizon. The golden sphere the man made disappeared, and the King seemed to slump forward in tiredness, but reached back for another attack. The streaks arched back and down, hitting all around the surprised man. There was a glow, then a bright golden light came from each point of light, striking the golden sphere with enough force to create a thunderous crack.

"Do you know any spells?" Otabek asked with an exhausted voice, and Yuuri shook his head.  ** _"Yuri, spells?"_**

_"None,'_ was the sharp reply.

Yuuri grimaced.

What sounded like the start of a horrid storm came from his left, and before he could turn, dust rose up from the ground, and something invisible hit the shield hard enough to create spiderweb cracks on the milky surface. There was a split second where he could see true fear on the King's face, then another force hit the shield, and it shattered sharply, and the lights connected.

The scream was of shocked pain, pulling at his heart, then the small body fell forward, boneless.

Yuuri barely glanced over to the one who caused the wind spells at the glint he caught sight of, and immediately ran forward, locked on the ring.

A finger twitched before he could reach it, and he leaped back as two small fists hit the ground with fury, wild lightning hitting all around the King protectively, the thunder deafening. Yuuri kept backing up as the small body stood weakly, swaying. Flickering his gaze to movement, Yuri aimed his crossbow, and Yuuri made to get the man's attention, but another wind spell broke through the lightening, moving the King dangerously close to the edge.

Yuuri turned, nearly yelling at the spell caster to be quiet, then felt his voice catch at his throat.

_'Victor.'_

Bright blue eyes didn't look over to him, and Yuuri snapped out of it to turn look back to the King, the frantic lightning and thunder doing nothing against the dark glare of hatred.

**_"Fall into the infinite darkness that absorbs even TIME!"_ **

His ears ran with the white light, and the sound remained as he was able to see the approaching moon. It clicked that he was falling, and his hands reached for something to hold onto, but the rocks were falling faster than him. In vain, he tried to whistle for a bird, but his mouth and lips were too dry. Yuuri spread his body to slow his fall so he could think, but all he managed to do was spin himself.

No.

He wasn't spinning himself.

Slowly, he was placed with his feet pointed towards the sky, and then he was pulled away from it, towards the remains of the platform, where only the turtle rock and some of the land remained. Yuuri stumbled on the landing, though he couldn't tell if it was because the wind suddenly disappeared, or that his equilibrium was shaken.

"Vitya?"

Yuuri blinked his burning eyes, then turned his head.

Victor gave a bright, tired smile to them all, a smile far different than what Yuuri saw before, with blood starting to leak from the corner of his chapped mouth.

Recognizing the signs, Yuuri ran forward, and caught Victor before he passed out, elevating his head before he began to wipe the blood from his mouth, barely hearing Yuri as he shouted in a different language to him, the panic evident in his voice.

It registered that Otabek spoke the same language back to the teen calmly, and Yuuri began to count Victor's heartbeats, feeling nothing irregular as he did so.

With one last test, Yuuri gave a hollow cheek light tapping touches, and Victor groaned with sleepy irritation, relaxing Yuuri greatly.

"He's gone." Yuuri jolted with the others, and snapped his head up at the female voice. "The  _Great King_ has gone to lick his wounds," the female told them all, dressed in spiky armor that spoke of a higher ranking than the four behind her.

Yuuri flickered his eyes around, though he knew that she was right.

"Don't you try and stop us leaving," Yuri warned the group in front of them, a slight crack in his voice.

"We won't," the Captain said, and Yuri seemed to paused in confusion. "Your people need to be warned, after all. And one of you has a piece of the Mirror."

Yuuri's thumb twitched.

"How do you know that?" Otabek asked, voice calm, yet slightly slurred.

She motioned with her chin towards Yuuri, "that one knew everything his soul knew once he was freed, though the other way was blocked, it seemed." Yuuri glanced down to Victor. "He also knew of the King's intentions." His fingers curled as he snapped up his head. "At the dawn of the new year, the King will throw open the doors to the Colossus, and released the dark entities inside."

"He's going to wait a whole year?" Yuri asked with a quivering voice.

Yuuri shook his head, though no one was looking at him.

"The first of the year was once in January," the Captain answered.

No one spoke right away.

"Eight months," Otabek stated.

The Captain nodded, then whistled, sharp and loud. "Leave for your world," the Captain said as the birds began to find a place to land with what remained, "warn them to be vigilant, even now. The King was once a Warlord, he knows how an army's mind works."

Yuuri looked down to Victor as lightness took over Yuuri's limbs, then picked him up, surprised that he was heavy.

_'Must have kept him in shape,'_ he thought as he went to his - clearly frazzled - bird, and let one of the soldiers help him secure Victor before he got behind him.

"One more thing," the Captain said as Yuuri turned the bird around, "don't tell any of the civilians about this. Their hope is small and fading with time, but it still lives."

Yuuri nodded as Yuri hummed in question, but he didn't answer, walking to the edge and dropped off, flinching at the sight of the moon he saw, before the bird flew up.

Victor didn't wake up from the coma his magic put him in even as they fell up into the portal, and Yuuri made sure the tree branch he landed roughly in didn't hurt the slumbering man, though the things in his bag dug into his back.

When Yuri fell at an odd angle, Yuuri shot his arm out, grabbing his arm so he wouldn't hit the ground, though Otabek fell on his other side.

His stare at Otabek when the holy warrior rolled and stood smoothly on the grass below  _might_ have held more venom than intended.

"It's day?" Yuri asked as Yuuri continued to hold the teen, nodding for Otabek to catch him, so he wouldn't twist his ankle.

"Opposite yet mirrored," Yuuri answered, then slowly let him go when the holy warrior was in place.

"What do you do first?" Otabek asked Yuuri as he placed the teen to the ground.

His lips thinned.

"I need to talk with Raphael. You two see if you can find Victor a place to rest at the palace."

No one spoke against it, and Yuuri gave Victor to Otabek before he climbed down, fighting the urge to ask for Victor back so he could use him as a shield, his anxiety telling him to run from his failure. The holy warrior and blond teen waited for him to walk out of the gardens first, and Yuuri did so with calming breaths, telling himself that he couldn't run away, that he had to face his failure head on.

The lack of moving life was the only hint he could see that something tragic had happened in the courtyard, for even the air moved and gave a comforting breeze. With a drumming heart and numbing limbs, he turned from the beautiful scenery and walked towards the entrance of the palace, trying to come up with a speech of what he was going to say to the King, what he would say at what question.

"So," a female voice spoke, and Yuuri stopped walking, "that is where you three had gone." Yuuri moved his eyes up to the Captain with skulls on her pauldrons, who was handing a spear to a waiting Knight. "You have the King sedated, or is the blood emblem destroyed?"

His chest tightened, but he pressed on, "Victor has his soul back. But the King took another vessel as his own."

Bright eyes narrowed with her pain grimace, "is that so?"

"Captain Keeta?" the Knight behind her asked with a respectful tone.

The woman nodded to the gate while saying "get the King from town", and the Knight bowed before he walked away. "I will call for a meeting, though my boat leaves soon for the North."

His words were quick, "the King has a time limit, eight months, on the first of January. He will try and open the doors to the Tower." Captain Keeta narrowed her eyes in thought, and Yuuri added, "he will try to steal the Sages during this time, in the guise of a little girl."

Her gaze grew  _hard,_ and Yuuri flinched.

"I see."

"I'm sorry."

The woman gave him a dry look, then her eyes moved to the left.

"In a coma, I suspect. I'll have someone send for Mother Jemma, in the off chance his body is beyond the realm of fatique." The Captain turned sharply, "Master, four rooms for our guests."

Yuuri frowned to himself, and stared at the floor as the servant told them to follow him.

He worked himself into a frenzy as he waited to be called, and had danced himself to exhaustion by the time the servant came to lead him to the meeting room, his legs wobbly.

"Your friend is healthy as one can hope to be after what has happened to him," the servant told him as they neared the room, "well, at least that is what Mother Jemma had said. But that is good news, is it not, Sir Knight?"

Yuuri nodded numbly, and the servant didn't push.

The door to the meeting room opened loudly, and Yuuri winced to himself at the high pitched squeak

Then he froze.

"Katsuki Yuuri, your Grace."

The older man turned, and Yuuri met his eyes, knowing immediately that Raphael knew the answer to his mission. Yuuri didn't move his eyes as Raphael waved his hand, and the servant left silently, moving with light steps until she closed the door behind her, the sound echoing in the large room.

"Captain Keeta has only spoken with our King," the oldest council member began, "can you recount all that had transpired, such as to  _how_ you entered the other world."

Yuuri tightened lips lips, then stayed standing as he began to mix the truth with the lie, "I found a strange mirror with my company, one that took me to another world. With my love of the old songs, I was able to piece together what I had gotten. I went to another world yester-night with Victor, but Otabek and Yuri followed me." He felt one of the council members begin to ask. "The mirror leaves a residue on the ground, that dissipates once you return back home."

The questioned air left. "We flew to the isle where the King and Sage was being held, but the ring was already taking off of Victor, and it bounced to the girl when the others on the island tried to destroy it. We battled, but the King broke the island in his escape, and we had to leave."

"So the King possesses the Princess," the Minister spoke with a stiff voice.

"The Captain said that the King will try to open the doors on January," someone spoke up, "so, are you planning to stop him at that time, or before?"

"He would have to do it before, no doubt."

"Him and the holy warrior, no?"

"Aah, yes. I've forgotten about that one."

"Will we have them trained in combat, your Grace?"

Yuuri tightened his lips as the King didn't move.

"What of the soldiers we sent out? Do we honestly believe that our allies will let them stay for so long in their countries, even if it is to hide the Sages?"

"Some might even believe it is a hoax, and that we mean to search for weakness."

"The populous will revolt with our soldiers walking around."

"December," Yuuri spoke up, and tightened his fingers behind his back as the council turned their heads to look at him. "I will go to the City in December, and sever the path that leads into the Tower."

The oldest hummed, "will you do this with no words to others again?"

Yuuri tightened his fingers.

"You will need good armor for that," Raphael finally spoke, and Yuuri didn't move his eyes from the man who had put faith on him to succeed. "The one you returned in should do." His heart squeezed. "I still have business in town. Gentlemen."

The council stood without another word, and Yuuri kept his head high as each one of them passed without so much as a look to him.

"Your Grace," Yuuri began to apologize as the older man walked passed him, but a hand raising stopped him.

"Is my niece still alive, Abyss Watcher?"

Yuuri flinched.

"Yes, your Grace."

Raphael didn't so much as blink.

"I expect her back in December.

His fingers threatened to snap off.

"Yes sir. I will take the first boat to Hasetsu to prepare."

A nod, then Raphael was gone.

With only a spoken message left for Otabek, Yuuri did as he said, finding passage by those who dye their hair a beautiful mix of blue and green for their Deity.

"Our Lord is favorable today," a woman with tightly coiled hair told him, her freckles barely visible on her dark skin. "You shall be in the East in no time."

Yuuri nodded in thanks, then sat at the bow when it became clear that they were not cleaning the deck. Salty air was all he could smell as the boat began to move forward, the rocking almost comforting. An otter jumped into the air to his left not long into the journey, and Yuuri winced as a black whale jumped after it, and swallowed the small thing whole, disappearing back into the sea as quick as it came, the tail creating a wave that barely moved the large ship.

Other sea creatures came out of the sea, but no others died as far as he could tell, though he stared at the waters long after a sleek black seal and grey-white monster were gone.

"May the waters of destiny bring you to where you belong," he bid farewell in the proper etiquette, and received a similar farewell in return.

He was able to rent a horse from a family friend, and he reached home earlier than he thought he would because of it, patting the horse on the side, and watching the disappearing fire trail the ink black horse left, then tugged on his hood to cover his face.

_"Konbanwa,"_ his father greeted as Yuuri stepped into the inn, "are you still on your diet?"

_"Hai,"_ he answered, yet his mind battled itself for whether to have the comfort food or not. "But I'll have a small bowl with steamed vegetables on the side."

"I'll help Oka-chan with the vegetables," his father said with his warm smile, "lots of broccoli, if I remember right." Yuuri tried to smile back. "Go now, shower and bath. Go go!"

The cry he had in the shower made his hot bath better, enough so that he almost stayed more than he was supposed to, until years of living in the inn forced him out.

Besides Minako admiring the armor he brought home, no one asked him what had happened at the Diamond. They suspected something did not go well, but they all waited for him to speak, and did not walk on egg shells around him. The Spring snow that seemed to have fallen even in Hasetsu had melted by the time he gathered himself to tell them all, and Mari had nearly destroyed her tobacco sticks when he was done, until he told her that he was taking responsibility for it all, and going alone, with the holy warrior as his backup.

His sister had only stared at him for a while, then told him she'd support him in that decision, before lighting one of her sticks.

Of course, by the time the last week of April came around, all excess fat from before was gone from his body, and the only thing that remained of his excess eating were stretchmarks on his stomach, thighs, shoulders, arms, and lower back. Minako gave him a nod when he showed her, then she had him start on advance ballet routines, then told him that he should add a few hours at the ice rink into his routines.

Knowing that it would help with his balance, Yuuri agreed, and went to Ice Castle to talk with Yuko when Minako dismissed him.

That night, Yuuri dug up his old skating boots, and found that they fit, even though they were five years old. He bounced on one guarded blade for a while, then took them off, stuffing the socks he used into the boots for morning, then put them at the front of his bed. A warm feeling spread through his chest, and he looked for something that would keep him warm while skating, before he went to bed, eager to better his chances against the King, and also to see how he would fair on the ice after so long.

"Yuuri," his mother told him as he went to start his morning jog, "one of your guest let his elderly dog sleep in this morning, can you take her for a run with you?"

He blinked slow, for he was sure that their regulars didn't have a dog with them at the inn.

"Sure, where is she?"

"Being spoiled by tou-san, let me go get her."

Yuuri leaned against the door as he mother left, and felt his heart tightened once he heard the familiar sound of excited claws clipping on the hard wooden floor. The brown curly mass turned the corner and placed her massive paws on his stomach, tongue hanging out of a near white muzzle, telling of her age, though her wagging tail didn't.

"She looks almost like Vic-chan," his father said happily as he walked to the counter with a box, and the poodle perked up a floppy ear before turning her head to stare at his father. "Behave on your walk, Makka-chan."

Makka made a happy high pitched noise as she got off of Yuuri, her little dance telling him that she was ready to go. Yuuri smiled down at her, then caught the doggy bags his father threw at him, sliding the door opened as he did so. The large poodle - no, Vic-chan was a miniature - barreled out and waited for him at the bottom of the steps, and Yuuri didn't keep her waiting, going at a leisurely jog in case she had arthritis, then faster when Makka began to overtake him.

He slowed down at the castle as they neared both the ninja house and the rink, and he stared at the direction of Ice Castle with a giddy feeling in his chest, and also trepidation. Five years off the ice, even with ballet lessons, wasn't something that he could just pick up and master in a day. He was going to fall, slide uncontrollably, loose his balance, all while his brain would battle him at what he did wrong, and that he wasn't doing anything to further his body's strength for the deadline.

A heavy weight leaned against his leg, and he looked down to Makka, who tilted her head up to look at him with expressive brown eyes, and a whine, like Vic-chan used to give him. Yuuri smiled, feeling bittersweet, and he knelt, letting the old dog lick his face as he scratched her neck, even when her tongue went over his glasses and left a streak. When he felt better, he gave her a hug in thanks, smelling that she had a bath recently, then stood to clean both his face and glasses. Pushing his glasses up on his face, he took off at a run, hearing Makka chase him with a happy bark, and tried to push his racing thought down as he enjoyed their run.

"Welcome back," his sister greeted him in the yard, placing the crate of fish on the porch. "Makka-chan's owner is in the living room, eating with Mrs. Kawasaki, and she's talking his ear off about her granddaughter's softball career. Makka-chan's bowls are waiting for her in there."

_"Hai,"_ he said, then asked, "you need help?"

Mari shook her head, "go give Victor his dog."

Something tickled at the back of his mind at that, but he ignored it as Makka sat at the door and barked down at him.

The poodle all but ran in when he slid the door opened, and he watched her jog into the living room and to the bowls he could barely see from where he stood. Yuuri held the door opened for his sister, then closed it behind her as a vaguely familiar language came from the living room, barely audible from a television, and the sounds of a large dog drinking gulps of water.

Wondering where he heard that language before, Yuuri went to the kitchen to get himself something to eat, then went to the living room so he could pet Makka before he went to the ice rink.

"Have a good day Mrs. Kawasaki," he told the older woman as she walked to the front door, the scroll for the pictures rolled up in her hands.

"And you as well, Yuu-chan," she told him, patting his cheek before leaving.

Makka walked up to him as Yuuri contempalated what she meant by that action, and raised his bowl when she sniffed at his food.

"Not for you, Makka-chan," he told her, and she whined while he walked around her, "no. You already ate."

She pushed against his leg, and he held his bowl up high before he bent down, "go to your owner Makka-chan. Go go."

_"Come here, Makkachin."_ Yuuri froze at the familiar volice speaking in the Western language, the poodle raising a floppy ear before leaving his side. "You had a big meal already," Victor said to his dog, letting the poodle lick his face while scratching behind her ears. Then blue eyes looked over to him, a grain of rice on the side of greasy lips, "hello Yuuri."

"V-Victor. You're here."

The older man smiled, "you invited us to Hasetsu for a rest."

Yuuri blinked slow.

"Otabek and Yuri are here?"

Victor shook his head, "Yuri is in the Northern Island, being scolded by Yakov fiercely. And Otabek said he'll be in his hometown until December."

_'Right. Victor is here to rest. That makes sense.'_ "Have you or Makka-chan - Makkachin, had a medical bath yet? My own dog used to have one for his arthritis for his old age."

"Your father gave her one last night," Victor told him, rubbing his poodle's shoulders. "You can show me around this city, can't you?"

Yuuri stared, the words slowly making sense in his mind as his imagination raced.

"Umm, sure. But I have to be at the ice rink in - "

He snapped his mouth shut.

"You skate as well as ballet?" Victor asked, seeming genuinely curious.

"No, just - before. I need to relearn my balance, and gliding on a thin blade will help with that."

"Are you doing 5 to 6? Can I watch?"

"I-I guess." Before he could embarrass himself, he sat down at his table and began to eat, immediately getting Makkachin's attention. "No Makka - chin," he said, moving her snout away gently. She retaliated by flopping into his lap, lazily moving her tail back and forth. "You are too spoiled Makka-chan," he told the poodle lovingly, petting her stomach.

"That's my fault."

Yuuri tensed.

He forgot about Victor.

"O-oh," he said, then picked up a piece of grilled onion.

It seemed like it was going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It might take just as long or longer for the third chapter, but who knows.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this first chapter pretty fast because it was so fun, but who knows how fast the second chapter will go with editing.
> 
> By the way, titles are from Havoc in Heaven by Jesca Hoop.


End file.
